First Recipe - AG Irish Red Ale. Critiques, suggestions welcome.

[max384]

I've got maybe 30-40 brews under my belt, nearly all of them all grain, and I decided to step it up and design a recipe. I designed one SMaSH recipe before, which turned out good, but I don't really count that as my first recipe, since they're so easy. I'm going to be brewing tomorrow morning, so any ingredient substitutions will be limited to the little that I have on hand currently.

Anyhow, here's the recipe:

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Nottingham dry
Yeast Starter: N/A
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.053
Final Gravity: 1.008
IBU: 22.5
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 14.9 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 @68*F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 @68*F

Grain Bill
8lbs Maris Otter
2lbs Vienna
6oz Patagonia Perla Negra (340L)
2oz Caramel 120

Hop Bill
1oz Fuggle - 60 min
0.5oz Kent Goldings - 10 min

All values were obtained using mybrewco.com.

My thoughts on this: Firstly, I'd like to keep within the style guidelines, but keep the alcohol content on the high end, but still within the guidelines.

The final gravity is a little low for the style at 1.008. I've been thinking about using Munton's since I have some available and it has a lower attenuation rate than Nottingham. However, from what I've read, Nottingham works very well with this style. But, I also know some recipe kits include Muntons for Irish red ales. I've never actually used Munton's, and I worry it will impart too much of yeasty flavor on account of its low flocculation... Though maybe I've overthinking it...

I chose the perla negra because I nibbled a few of them at my LHBS and I really liked the flavor and I like that they're dehusked. For those that don't know what this grain is, it's a roasted malt 340L color. I've never used this before. I worry that I may have added too much of this and I'll be left with less of a red color and more of a brown color.

I also have some Willamette hops that I was thinking of using in place of the Fuggles. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks.

 

[estricklin]

My own Irish Red recipe has a lot more of then Caramel 60 and 120, but I think yours will do fine. I'm not familiar with the Patagonia Perla Negra, but your on the lower end of the SRM range for that beer, so again, I think it will be fine.

Your hop schedule is almost identical to mine, I use Fuggles as well. I have brewed Irish Reds with Notty, though they were different recipes, I have always liked Notty. I've used Irish Ale Yeast, WLP002 and S-23, but WLP002 is my favorite.

I think your going to be pleased with the results, and congrats on your 2nd recipe. (Yes the SMaSH counts!)

 

[max384]

My own Irish Red recipe has a lot more of then Caramel 60 and 120, but I think yours will do fine. I'm not familiar with the Patagonia Perla Negra, but your on the lower end of the SRM range for that beer, so again, I think it will be fine.

Your hop schedule is almost identical to mine, I use Fuggles as well. I have brewed Irish Reds with Notty, though they were different recipes, I have always liked Notty. I've used Irish Ale Yeast, WLP002 and S-23, but WLP002 is my favorite.

I think your going to be pleased with the results, and congrats on your 2nd recipe. (Yes the SMaSH counts!)

Thanks for the feedback. How much caramel 60 and 120 do you use? I'm thinking maybe I should add a bit more to mine.

 

[estricklin]

8 oz and 4 oz respectively. I also add a few oz of roasted barley.

 

[max384]

8 oz and 4 oz respectively. I also add a few oz of roasted barley.

I assume this is for a 5 gallon batch?

I think I may increase the 120 from 2oz to 4oz.

 

[estricklin]

Oh yes 5 gallons, and I think that is a good idea, will give you a little more color and sweetness. Sure won't hurt.

 

[max384]

Thanks for the quick replies. That's what I'll do then. Thanks. Time to shovel snow and then get started on this brew!

 

[max384]

Well, I ended up brewing a little later in the day than I had planned and just finished with the brew. I think I used too much of the Perla Negra, as the post-boil wort is brown, not red.

I also forgot to adjust the numbers in mybrewco.com to match my own efficiency, so my OG ran a little high at 1.062, but this is only slightly over the style guidelines.

I also mixed up my pre-boil volumes and ended up with too much wort, so I turned it into a 90-minute boil with hop additions at 90 and 10 minutes.

Oh man, what a sloppy brew day on my first real recipe. Oh well, at least my efficiency was right on what it usually runs.

Now comes the waiting game...


A question on the color though, according to mybrewco.com, the color is right in the middle of the style guidelines, but this seems way too dark. I used a roasted malt with 350L color in place of the perla negra since they're both 340L. Would this make a difference in the predicted color? I figured it wouldn't, since they're both pretty close in color.

 

[estricklin]

I think after fermentation and everything settles the beer will be slightly clearer, and may take on that red tint your looking for. I'm actually red/green color blind so I can't help you too much on color. Your wort samples looks to be in the style to me though.

 

[max384]

Fair enough! Hopefully it does take on a redder color over time. We'll see. Thanks for all the help.